obsessive housing disorder n.— «As Washington grapples with the current mortgage crisis, advocates from both parties are already warning the feds not to relax their commitment to expanding homeownership—even if that means reviving the very kinds of...
soft-second n.— «As another example, borrowers could be required to share with the government or with the holder of the borrower’s existing mortgage either the equity created through a write-down or the future appreciation in the home price, or...
scraper n.— «Without those ongoing improvement costs, a house runs the risk of being what the building industry calls a “scraper.” That’s a house with so much deferred maintenance that it’s cheaper to scrape it off the foundation and start from...
have skin in the game v. phr.— «The value of homeownership, then, has increasingly shifted to the home’s likelihood to rise in value, like any other investment. And when investments go bad, people tend to walk away. “When people don’t have skin in...
